in perusing of histories then fitly haue I intituled this volume with the Palace of Pleasure For like as the outward shewe of Princes Palaces be pleasaunt at the view and sight of ech mans eye bet decked and garnished with sumptuous hangings and costlie Arras of splendent shewe wherein be wrought and be with gold silke of sundrie hewes the dedes of noble states Euen so in this our Pallace here there be at large recorded the Princely partes and glorious gestes of renowmed wights represented with more liuely grace and gorgeous sight than Tapestrie or Arras worke for that the one with deadly shape doth shewe the other with speaking voice declare what in their time they were Vpon whō doe waite as meete it is inferior persons ech one vouchsafing to tell what he was in the transitorie trade of present lyfe VVherefore accept the same in grateful wise and thinke vpon the minde of him that did the same which fraughted is with no lesse plentie of good wil than the coafers of king Craesus were with store of worldly pelfe And so fare well Authors out of whome these Nouelles be selected or which be remembred in diuers places of the same Greke and Latine Authors Titus Liuius Herodotus Aetianus Xenophon Quintus Curtius Aulus Gellius S. Hierome Cicero Polidorus Virgilius Aeneas Syluius Paludanus Apuleius L Caecius Rhodoginus Italian French and English Pietro Messia de Siuiglia Boccaccio Bandello Ser Giouanni Fiorentino Straeparole The Quene of Nauarre A boke in French intitled Comptes du monde Francois Belleforest Pierre Boaistuau surnome Launay Froisarde Fabian ¶ THE PALACE of Pleasure The Romanes and the Albanes beyng at warres for iniuries mutually inferred Metius Suffetius the Albane capitain deuised a waie by a combate to ioigne bothe the cities in one Uictorie falling to the Romanes the Romane victor killeth his sister who notwithstādyng is condempned to die Afterwardes vpon his fathers sute he is deliuered ¶ The first Nouell NVma Pompilius the seconde kyng of the Romanes beeyng deade Tullus Hostilius succeded a lustie and couragious yong gentleman For as Numa was giuē to peace so was he to warres and valiance It chaunced in his tyme that certein peasantes of the Romane dition and the like of the Albanes was foragyng and driuyng of boties the one from the other At that tyme raigned in Alba one C. Cluilius Ambassadours from bothe places were sent to redemaūde the thinges stollen Tullus commaunded his people that thei should deliuer none til commaundement were giuen in that behalfe for he knewe right well that the Alban kyng would restore nothyng by whiche occasion be might vpon iust cause proclaime warres He receiued the Alban Ambassadours in verie courteous maner and thei as curteously celebrated his honourable and sumptuous interteignemente Amitie proceded on bothe partes till the Romanes beganne to demaunde the firste restituciō whiche the Albanes denied and summoned warres to bee inferred vpon them within thirtie daies after Wherevpon the Ambassadours craued license of Tullus to speake whiche beyng graunted thei firste purged themselues by ignoraunce that thei knewe no harme or iniurie doen to the Romanes addyng further that if any thyng were dooen that should not please Tullus it was against their willes hopyng he would remember that thei were but Ambassadours subiecte to the commaundement of their prince Their coming was to demaunde a restitucion without whiche thei wer straightly charged to proclame defiaunce Whervnto Tullus aunswered Tell your maister that the kyng of the Romanes doeth call the goddes to witnes whether of them first maketh the quarrell to thintent all menne maie expecte the reuenge of those warres Whiche answere the Albane Ambassadours retourned to their maister Greate prouision for the warres was made on bothe partes muche like to a ciuile contencion almost betwene the father and the sonne For the citie of Lauinium was builded by the Troians and Alba by the Lauinians of whose stocke the Romanes tooke their beginnyng The Albanes seyng that thei were defied of the Romanes beganne firste to enter in armes and with a maine power perced the land of the Romanes and encamped within fiue miles of the citie enuironyng their campe with a trenche whiche afterwardes was called Fossa Cluilia by the mean of their capitaine wherein Cluilius the kyng died Then the Albanes appointed one Metius Suffetius to bee their Dictator Tullus vnderstāding the death of their prince with greate expedicion marched into the countrie about Alba passyng by the Albanes campe in the night whiche by the watche and scoutes was skried Then he retired to lodge as nere the enemie as he could sendyng an Ambassadour before to require Tullus that he would come to Parle before thei fought wherein he had a thyng to saie no lesse profitable to the Romanes then to the Albanes Tullus not cōtempnyng that condicion agreed Wherevpon bothe did put themselues in readines and before thei foigned bothe the captaines with certaine of their chief officers came forthe to talke where Metius saied these woordes The mutuall iniuries that hath been dooen and the withholdyng and kepyng of thynges caried awaie contrarie to the truce and that our kyng Cluilius is the authour and beginner of these warres I do heare and assuredly vnderstande for a trothe And I doe not doubt Tullus but thou also doest conceiue the same to be the onely occasion of this hostilitie Notwithstandyng if I maie speake rather the truthe then vtter any glosyng woordes by waie of flaterie the ambicious desire of bothe the Emperes doeth moste of all stimulate and prouoke bothe the Cities beeyng of one affinite and neighbours to frequēt this force of armes But whether this my coniecture bee right or wrong thei ought to consider whiche first began the warres The Albanes haue created me their Capitaine of this their enterprise I come to giue aduertisement to thée O Tullus of this one thing Whiche is that the Thuscans beyng a greate nacion and of power right famous doth enuirone vs bothe rounde about and the nerer thei bée vnto you the more knowledge you haue of thē Thei bee mightie vpon the lande and of greate power vpon the sea Call to thy remembraunce and consider that when thou giuest the signe and watche woorde of the battell our twoo armies shall bee but a ridiculous spectacle to them So sone as thei doe perceiue vs twoe to be spent and weried with fightyng thei will bothe assaile the vanquished and hym also that dooeth ouercome Wherfore if the goddes doe fauour either of vs let vs not shewe our selfes to be wearie of our libertie and franchise that is certaine and hazarde the Dice to incurre perpetuall seruitude and bondage Theerfore lette vs deuise some otherwaie whereby the one of vs maie gouerne the other withont effusion of bloodde of either partes This condiciō nothyng displeased Tullus although in corage and hope of victorie he was more fierce and bolder then the other And beyng in consultaciō about that purpose fortune ministered an apte occasion to them
well doers in their glorie and triumphe to perpetrate thynges vnlawfull Sextus Tarquinius rauisheth Lucrece who bewailyng the losse of her chastitie killeth her self ¶ The seconde Nouell GReate preparacion was made by the Romanes against a people called Rutuli who had a citie named Ardea excellyng in wealth and richesse whiche was the cause that the Romane kyng beyng exhausted and quite voide of money by reason of his sumptuous buildynges made warres vpon that countrie In the tyme of the siege of that citee the yong Romane gentlemen bāqueted one an other emonges whom there was one called Collatinus Tarquinius the sonne of Egerius And by chaunce thei entred in communicacion of their wiues euery one praisyng his seuerall spouse At length the talke began to growe hotte where vpon Collatinus said that wordes wer vaine For within fewe howers it might be tried how muche his wife Lucrecia did excell the rest wherfore q he if there be any liuelihod in you Let vs take our horse to proue whiche of our wiues doth furmoūt Wherevpō thei rode to Rome in poste At their coming thei found the kynges doughters sportyng themselfes with sundrie pastymes From thence thei went to the house of Collatinus where thei founde Lucrece not as the other before named spendyng the time in idlenes but late in the night occupied and busie emonges her maides in the middes of the house spinning of Wolle The victorie and praise wherof was giuen to Lucretia who when she sawe her husbande gently and louingly interteigned hym curteously biddyng the Tarquinians welcome Imediatlie Sextus Tarquinius the sonne of Tarquinius Superbus that tyme the Romane kyng was attached and incensed with a libidious desire to construprate and defloure Lucrece When the yong gentlemen had bestowed that night pleasantlie with their wiues thei retourned to the Campe. Not long after Sextus Tarquinius with one man returned to Collatia vnknowen to Collatinus and ignoraunte to Lucrece and the reste of her houshold for what purpose he came Who beyng right hartely interteigued after supper was conueighed to his chamber Tarquinius burnyng with the loue of Lucrece after he perceiued the housholde to bee at reste and all thynges in quiet he with his naked sworde in his hande goeth to Lucrece beyng a slepe and kepyng her doune with his lefte hande saied Holde thy peace Lucrece q he I am Sextus Tarquinius my sworde is in my hande if thou crie I will kill thee The gentlewoman beyng sore a fraied newlie awaked out of her slepe and seyng iminent death could not tell what to doe Then Tarquinius confessed his loue and began to intreate her and therewithall vsed sundrie menacyng woordes by all meanes attemptyng to make her quiet when he sawe her obstinate and that she would not yelde to his requeste notwithstandyng his cruell threates he added shamefull and villanous woordes saiyng That he would kill her and when she was slaine he would also kill his slaue and place hym by her that it might be reported she was slain beyng taken in adulterie She vāquished with his terrible and infamous threat His fleshly and licencious enterprise ouercame the puritie of her chast harte whiche doen he departed Then Lucrece sente a poste to Rome to her father and an other to Ardea to her housbande requiryng them that thei would make speede to come vnto her with certaine of their trustie frendes for that a cruell facte was chaunced Then Sp. Lucretius with P. Valerius the soonne of Volesius Collatinus with L. Iunius Brutus made haste to Lucrece Where thei founde her sittyng verie pensife and sadde in her chamber So sone as she sawe theim she began pitiouslie to weepe Then her housebande asked her whether all thynges were well vnto whom she saied these woordes No dere housebande for what can bee well or safe vnto a woman when she hath loste her chastitie Alas Collatine the steppes of an other man be now fixed in thy bedde But it is my bodie onely that is violated my minde God knoweth is gililes whereof my death shal be witnesse But if you be men giue me your hādes and trouthe that the adulterer maie not escape vnreuenged It is Sextus Tarquinius who beyng an enemie in stede of a frende the other night came vnto me armed with his sworde in his hand and by violence caried a waie from me and tooke to himself a pestiferous ioye Then euery of thē gaue her their faith and comforted the pensife and languishyng ladie imputing the offence to the aucthor and doer of the same affirmyng that her bodie was polluted and not her mynde and where consente was not there the crime was absent Wherevnto she added I praie you consider with your selues what punishment is due for the malefactour As for my parte though I clere my self of the offence my bodie shall feele the punishemente for no vnchast or ill woman shall hereafter take example of Lucrece Then she drew out a knife whiche she had hidden secretly vnder her kirtle and stabbed her self to the harte Whiche doen she fell doune grouelyng vpon her wounde and so died Wherevpon her father and housebande made greate lamentacion and as thes were bewailyng the death of Lucrece Brutus plucked the knife out of the wounde whiche gushed out with abundance of blood and holdyng it vp saied I swere by the chaste blood of this bodie here deade and I take you the immortall goddes to witnesse that I wil driue and extirpate out of this Citie bothe L. Tarquinius Superbus and his wicked wife with all the race of his children and progenie so that none of them ne yet any others shall raigne any longer in Rome Then he deliuered the knife to Collatinus Lucretius and Valerius merueilyng at the straungenesse of his woordes And from whence he should conceiue that determinacion Thes al swore that othe And folowed Brutus as their capitaine in his conceiued purpose The bodie of Lucrece was brought into the markette place where the people wondred at the vilenesse of that facte euery mā cōplainyng vpon the mischief of that facinorous rape committed by Tarquinius Wherevpon Brutus perswaded the Romanes that thei should cease from teares and other childishe lamentacions and take weapons in their handes and shewe themselues like men Then the lustiest and moste desperate persones within the citie made theimselues presse and readie to attempt any enterprise And after a guarrison was placed and bestowed at Collatia diligente watche and warde was kepte at the gates of the citie to the intent the kyng should haue no aduertismente of that slurre The reste of the souldiours followed Brutus to Rome Whē he was come to Rome the armed multitude did beate a meruellous feare throughout the whole citie but yet because thei sawe the chiefeste personages goe before that thought that the same enterprise was not taken in vaine Wherefore the people out of all places of the citie ran into the marketplace Where Brutus complained of the abhominable Rape of Lucrece committed by Sextus Tarquinius whervnto
yonge ones went to inhabite in some other place And the corne accordingly was cut downe by the owner This fable Aesope reporteth premonishyng men to beware of light hope and vaine truste to be reposed in frēdes and kinsfolke And the same Q. Ennius in his Satyres verie elegantly in trimme verses hath set out whereof the twoo laste worthie to bée had in harte and memorie I haue thought good to remember Alwaies fixt fast in breast in prompt and redie wise This Prouerbe olde and true a sentence of the wise The thyng doe not expecte by frendes for to achieue VVhiche thou thy self canst doe thy self for to relieue A merie ieste vttered by Hannibal to kyng Antiochus ¶ The .xxj. Nouell ANtiochus makyng greate preparacion furniture to inferre warre vpon the Romanes decked his armie with Siluer and Golden ansignes and Pendentes wherein he had plentie of wagons chariottes and Elephantes with towers his bande of horsemen glittered gloriouslie with Golden bridles trappers barbes and suche like The king beholdyng in glorious and reioysyng wise his gaie and beautifull armie loked towardes Hannibal and saied How saiest thou Hannibal Thinkest thou that these thynges be not inough and sufficiente to matche with the Romanes Hanibal mocking and deluding the cowardnesse and weakenesse of his souldiors cladde in those precious and costlie furnitures saied All these thynges be inough and inough againe for the Romanes although thei were the moste couetous men of the worlde The kyng vnderstoode Hannibal that he had meant of the nomber of his souldiers and of their brauerie But he meant of the praie and spoite whiche the Romanes should winne and gette The merneilous knowledge of a Lion beyng acquainted with a man called Androdus ¶ The .xxij. Nouell THere chaūced to be certain plaies and games at Rome where were many monstruous and cruell beastes But emonges all those beastes the hugenesse and cruell aspectes of the Lions were had in greatest wonder specially of one Whiche Lion was of an huge and greate bignesse hauyng a terrible voice his clawes stretched for the his bristelles and heare vpright beholding with his fierce and dedly eyes all the multitude stādyng by There was brought in to fight with the Lion emonges all the reste one Androdus a Dacian borne the bondman of a greate personage of the Consular order whom the Lyon beholdyng a farre of sodainlie stoode still And afterwardes by litle and litle in gentle sorte he came vnto the man as though he had knowen him Waggyng his taile like a Spaniell fawnyng vpō his maister and licked the handes and legges of the poore felowe whiche for feare was almoste dead This Androdus perceiuyng the flateries of this fierce beast recouered comforte and earnestlie viewed and marked the Lion Then thei beganne to entre into mutual acquaintaunce one reioysyng at an others metyng Upon whiche straunge euent the people raised greate shoutes and acclamaciōs wherevpon Androdus was called before the Emperor and demaunded the cause why that moste cruell beast did in that sort fawne and fauour hym aboue all other Androdus tolde a merueilous and straunge historie of the cause thereof saiyng If it please your Maiestie when my Lorde and Maister did by the office of Proconsul gouerne Africa I through his causelesse stripes and daily whippynges was forced to runne awaie And when I had gotten pardon of the lieutenāt of that countrie to remaine there I withdrew my self in to the desertes and voide places And lacking meate to ease the paine of hūger I determined by some meanes to séeke mine owne death It chaunced aboute the midde of the daie whē the Sonne was feruent and hot I entred into a Caue whiche was farre from habitacion very wide and large Whervnto within a while after this Lion resorted hauyng one of his féete bloodie hurte For paine whereof he vttred muche mone and sorowe bewailyng the griefe and anguishe of the sore When I sawe the Lion my hart began to quake for feare but beyng come in as it were into his owne habitacion for so it should appere perceiuyng me to go aboute to hide my self a farre of he like a milde and gentle beast came vnto me holdyng vp his foote reachyng the same to me as though he desired helpe and relief at my handes Where withall I plucked out of his foote a stubbe whiche stucke betwene the pawes thereof and takyng a litle salue whiche I had in my bosome I thruste it into the bottome of the wounde and diligently without any further feare I dried the wounde and wiped awaie the blood thereof Wherewith the Lion beyng eased restyng his foote in my hādes he laie downe to refreshe hymself From that daie duryng the space of three yeres the Lion and I continued together and liued with like fare The lattest and beste morselles of those beastes whiche he praied he did euer brynge me into the caue whiche meate bicause I had no fire I rosted in the heate of the Sonne and did eate the same with good stomacke But when I began to waxe wearie of that kinde of meate vpon a tyme the Lion beyng abroade I forsoke the caue and traueilyng almoste the space of three daies I was espied and taken of the souldious and brought home to my maister out of Africa to Rome who immediatlie condempned me to be deuoured of beastes And now I perceiue that this Lion sithens I left his companie is taken and dooeth acquite that good tourne and cure whiche I shewed hym them The people hearyng the discourse of this straunge facte made suite that the felowe might bée pardoned and sette at libertie and the Lion by generall voice was giuen vnto hym for reward Afterwardes Androdus caried the Lion abrode the Citie in a litle corde and had muche money giuen vnto hym the Lion was decked and beautified with flowers And euery manne that mette them did vse to saie This is the Lion the frende of this man and this is the man the Phisicion of the Lion A pretie disputacion of the Philosopher Phanorines to perswade a woman not to put forthe her childe to Nursse but to nourishe it her self with her owne Milke ¶ The .xxiij. Nouell IT was tolde to the Philosopher Phauorinus that the wife of one of his Sectators and scholers was brought a bedde of a sonne Let vs go quod Phauorinus to visite the childwife and to gratulate the father for the ioye of his soonne When thei were entred the house after he had saluted the goodman accordyng to the custome he asked the wife how she did and praied the Goddes to sende her good footyng and then inquired of her trauell and painfull panges whē he vnderstode that her trauell was greate and her bodie weake with watchyng howbeeit somewhat comforted with slepe whiche she had taken he determined to enter into further talke I doubte not gossip q he but that you purpose to nourishe your sonne your self The mother of the woman hearyng him saie so began to praie pardon and
a litle longer he fained as though he had made a further searche The other so subtill and malicious as he badde hym to séeke still and when thei sawe tyme thei toke awaie the proppes that staied vp the Tōbe and ran awaie leauyng poore Andreuccio fast shutte in the Graue Whiche when Andreuccio perceiued what chaunced to hym then eche man maie consider Then he assaied sometymes with his shulders sometyme with his hedde to remoue the couer but all was in vaine Wherefore euen for verie sorowe he fill in a sownde vpon the deade bodie of the Bishoppe And if a man had seen them bothe at that instaunt it could not well haue béen discerned whether was the dead corps the Archebishoppe dedde or poore Andreuccio diyng But after he was come to hymsef he began piteouslie to complaine seeyng he was arriued to one of these twoo endes either in the Tombe to die for hunger and with the stenche of the dedde body putrifiyng with wormes if no manne came to open it or els to be hanged as a Thiefe if he were founde within And as he was in these consideracions tormented with sorowe he heard a noyse in the churche of diuerse menne who as he thoughte came to dooe the like facte that he and his fellowes had doen before wherewith his feare began muche more to augment But after thei had opened the graue and staied it vp it came in question emōges them who should goe in And when thei had contended a good space about the same A Priest that was in the companie saied Why are ye afraied Dooe ye thinke that he will eate you The dedde neuer eate men I will goe in my self And when he had saied so he laied hym downe upon his breaste at the drinke of the graue and thrustyng his feete in before he wente doune Andreuccio seyng that erected himself vpright and caught the Prieste by one of the legges makyng as though he would haue drawen hym in whiche when the Prieste perceiued he cried out a loude spéeding himself out so fast as he could Wherewithall the reste dismaied almoste out of their wittes leauyng the graue open tooke their legges and ranne as though a hundred thousande deuelles had béen at their tailes whiche seyng Andreuccio more ioyfull then he looked for lepte out of the graue and ranne as fast as he could out of the Churche at the place where he came in At what tyme daie light beganne to appere and he with the ryng on his finger wandred he wist not whether till he came to the sea side and at lengthe recouered his Inne where he founde his companie and his hoste all that night takyng greate care for hym To whom recomptyng that whiche chaunced his hoste gaue hym aduise incontinently to gette hym out of Naples whiche presently he did and retourned to Perugia hauyng bestowed his v. C. crounes vpon a Ryng whiche he thought to haue imploied vpon horsses For whiche cause he made that iorney The Erle of Angiers beyng falsly accused was banished out of Fraunce and lefte his twoo soonnes in sundrie places in Englande and retournyng vnknowen by Scotlande founde them in greate aucthoritie afterwardes he repaired in the habite of a seruaunte to the Frenche kynges armie And beyng knowen to be innocent was againe aduaunced to his firste estate ¶ The .xxxvii. Nouell THe Romane Empire beyng transferred frō the Frenche menne vnto the Almanes there rose a great discencion betwene bothe the nacions and in the ende a cruell and continual warre For which cause as well for the defence of his kingdome as to offede his enemies the Frenche king and one of his soonnes with all the power of their owne realme and of their frendes and allies assembled a greate hoste of menne to encountre with their enemies and before thei proceded bicause thei would not leaue their realme with out a gouernor knowyng Gualtieri Erle of Angiers to be a gentle and sage knight and their moste trustie frende and that he was a man moste expert in the arte of warfare semyng vnto thē notwithstandyng more apt to pleasure then paine lefte hym Lieutenaunt generall in their place for the gouernement of the whole kyngdome of Fraunce and proceded in their enterprise The Erle then began with greate knowledge and by good order to execute his office committed vnto hym dooyng nothyng without the consente of the Quene and her faire doughter in lawe although thei were lefte to be vnder his custodie and gouernement yet neuer tholesse he honoured them as his maistresses and superiours This Erle Gualtieri was a beautiful personage about the age of fourtie yeres so familier and well condicioned as any gentleman could be and besides that he was the moste excellent and trimmest knight that was knowen in those daies and one most comelie in his apparell It chaunced that the kyng and his soone beyng at the warres aforesaied the wife of the Erle died in the meane while leauyng hym onely twoo little yonge children a soonne and a doughter whiche he had by her He then frequentyng the courte of the aforesaied Ladies talkyng many tymes with them aboute the affaires of the realme the wife of the kynges sonne fixed her eyes vpon him and with great affection for his persone and vertues feruentlie imbraced hym with secrete loue And knowing herself to be yonge and freshe and hym to bee without a wife thought sodainly to bring to passe that whiche she desired and thinkyng that nothyng could lette the same but onely shame to discouer it she purposed vtterly to abandone the same And vpon a daie beyng a lone she sente one to seeke the Erle as though she would haue communicated with hym of other matters The Erle whose minde was farre different from the Ladies incontinently came vnto her who beyng sette doune together vpon a bedde which she desired alone in a chāber he asked her twise vpon what occasion she sent for hym and she hauyng nothyng to sate vnto him pressed in the ende and rapte with loue waxed verie shamfast and almoste wepyng quakyng for feare with fainte wordes began to saie as foloweth My derely beloued and louyng frende and Lorde you maie easelie knowe beyng a wise manne as you bee the frailtie of menne and women and by diuers consideracions the weakenesse to bee more in the one then in the other Wherefore before a iust iudge one fault of diuerse qualities ought not of reason to receiue one like punishemente Moreouer who is he that will saie that a poore man or woman whiche getteth their liuing with the labor of their bodie ought not more to bee reprehended if thei become amourous and subiect to their lustes then the riche Ladie whiche taketh no care for her liuyng or wanteth any thyng that she desireth Truely I beleue there is none suche that will saie so for whiche reason I suppose that the thinges before saied ought to serue the greatest part of the excuse to the aduauntage of her that doeth possesse thē If
life in pleasant coÌ„pany there is none in al the Court but séeth and marketh the good countenaunce you beare to that gentleman whereof your selfe hath some suspicion Which wil make euery maÌ„ suppose that if he haue done this enterprise it was not done with out some consent on your part And your honor which hitherto hath borne your port a loft shall be disputed vpon in all places where this historie shall be remembred The Princesse vnderstanding and waying the good reasons of her Gentlewoman knew that she spake the truth and that by moste iust cause she should be blamed considering the familiaritie and good countenaunce which daylie she bare vnto the Gentleman Wherefore she inquired of her woman of honor what was best to be done Who aunswered her thus Madame sith it pleaseth you to receyue myne aduise by waying the affection whereof it procedeth me thinke you ought in your heart to reioyce that the goodliest and moste curteous Gentleman that liueth coulde neyther by loue nor force dispoyle you of your gret vertue and chastitie For which Madame you are bound to huÌ„ble your self before God acknowledging that it is not done by your vertue bicause many women walking in a more paynful and more vnpleasant trade than you doe haue bene humiliated and brought low by meÌ„ farre more vnworthy of loue thaÌ„ he which loueth you And ye ought now to feare more than euer you did to vse any semblance and talke of amitie bicause there haue bene many that haue fallen the secoÌ„d time into daungers and perils which they haue anoyded at the first Remember Madame that loue is blinde who darkeneth mens eyes in such sorte that where a man thinketh the way most sure there he is most ready to fall And I suppose Madame that you ought not to be knowen of this chaunce neyther to him no yet to any man else and when he remembreth any thing vnto you to make as though you did not vnderstande his meaning to auoyd two dauÌ„gers The one of vaine glory for the victory which you haue had the other to take pleasure in remeÌ„bring things that be so pleasant to the flesh which the most chaste haue had much a doe to defend them selues from feeling of some sparks although they do seke meanes to shunne auoyde them withall their possible power Moreouer Madame to th ende that he think not by such hazard and enterprise to haue done a thing agreable to your minde myne adusse is that by little and little you doe make your self straunge and vse no more your wonted grace vnto him that he may knowe how muche you despise his follie and consider how great your goodnesse is by coÌ„tenting your selfe with the victory which God hath giueÌ„ you without séeking any further vâ—tion or reuengement And God graunt you grace Madame to continue that honestie which he hath planted in your heart and by acknowledging that all goodnesse procedeth froÌ„ him you may loue him and serue him better than euer ye did The Princesse determined to credit the counsayle of her gentlewoman slept with so great ioy as the pore gentleman waked with sorrow On the morrow the noble man ready to depart asked for his hoste vnto whome aunswere was made that he was so sick that he coulde not abide the light nor endure to heare one speake Wherof the Prince was sore abashed and would haue visited him but that it was tolde him that he was a slepe and was very loth to wake him Wherfore without bidding him farewel he departed taking with him his wife and sister who hearing the excuse of the Gentleman that would not sée the Prince nor yet his companie at their departure was persuaded that it was he that had done her all that torment and durst not shew the markes which she had signed in his face And although his Maister did send oftentimes for him yet came he not to the Court vntill he was healed of all his wounds except that which Loue and despite had made in his hart When he came to the Court and appeared before his victorious enemie he blushed for shame of his ouerthrowe And he which was the stoutest of al the company was so astonned that many tymes being before her he coulde not tell which way to loke or tourne his face Wherefore she was assured that her suspicion was certayne and true by little and little estraunging her selfe from him but it was not done so sleightly or politikely but that he perceyued it wel ynough and yet he durst make no semblance thereof for feare of worse aduenture Notwithstanding he conserued both his loue in his heart also pacience of minde for the losse of his Ladies fauour which he had right wel deserued Amadour and Florinda The loue of Amadour and Florinda Wherein be contayned manye sleightes and dissimuletions together with the renowined chastitie of the sayde Florinda ¶ The Liij Nouell IN the Countie of Arande in Aragon there was a Lady which in the best time of her youth continued the widdowe of the Earle of Arande with one soÌ„ne and one daughter called Florinda The sayde Ladye brought vp her children in all vertue and honestie méete and conuenable for all Lordes and Gentlemen in such forte that her house was renowmed to be one of the most honorable houses in all the Region of Spayne Many times she repayred to Tolledo where the King of Spaine helde his Court and wheÌ„ she came to Sarragosa which was harde adioyning to the Court she coÌ„tinued long with the Quéene and in the Court where she was had in so good estimatioÌ„ as any Lady might be Upon a time going towardes the King according to her custome which was at Sarragosa in his Castle of Iasserie this Lady passed by a village that belonged to the Uiceroy of Cathalongne who still continued vpon the frontiers of Parpignon by reason of the great warres that were betwene the French King and him Howbeit at that time peace being concluded the Uiceroy withall his captaynes were come to do reuerence to the King The Uiceroy knowing that the Countesse of Arande dyd passe through his couÌ„trie went to mete her aswel for auncient amitie as also for the honor he bare vnto her being allied to the King Now this Uiceroy had in his companye diuers honest Gentlemen which through the frequeÌ„tation and continuance of the long warres had gotten suche honor aud fame that euery man that might sée them behold them did accompt themselues happie But amonges all the other there was one called Amadour who although he was but .xviij. or .xix. yeares of age yet he had suche an assured grace and a witte so excellent that he was demed amongs a thousande persons worthy to haue the gouernement of a common wealth which good wit was coupled with a maruellous naturall beautie that there was no eye but did content it self eftsones to beholde him And this beautie so exquisite was associated with wonderful eloquence that doubtful it was to
to all thinges good and vertuous hoping therby to attayne the fame of a moste perfect Lady to be counted worthy the interteignement of such a seruant Amadour being arriued at Barsalone was banketted of the Ladyes after the olde maner but they finding him so altered and chaunged thought that Mariage coulde neuer haue had such power vpon man as it had ouer him For he séemed then to disdayne those things which sometime he greatly desired and specially the Coūtesse of Palamons whom he dearely loued coulde deuise no meanes to make him goe alone home to his lodging Amadour tarried at Barsalone so little while as he coulde bicause he might not come late to the place where he should winne and achieue honour And being arriued at Saulse great cruell warres was comenced betwene the two kings which I purpose not to recite ne yet the noble enterprises done by Amadour whose fame was bruted aboue the rest of his companions The Duke of Nagyeres arriuing at Parpignon had charge of two thousād men and prayed Amadour to be his Lieutenant who with that band serued so wel that no crie was hearde in all the skirmishes other than Nagyeres It chaūced that the king of Thunis which of long time had warre with the Spaniardes vnderstanding how the kings of Spaine and Fraunce were together by the eares at Parpignon and Narbone thought that in better time he could not anoy the king of Spaine Wherefore he sent a great number of Foysts and other vessels to robbe and destroy those frontiers which were yll guarded kept They of Barsalone séeing a number of Shippes passe before the Towne aduertised the king that was at Saulse who imediatly sent the Duke of Nagyeres to Palamons And when the Shippes perceyued that the place was well guarded they made as thoughe they woulde passe further But aboute midnight they retourned and landed so many men that the Duke of Nagyeres was taken prisoner Amadour which was very vigilant hearing al arme presently assembled so many men as he coulde and defended himselfe so well that the force of his enemies a long time coulde not hurt him But in th ende knowing that the Duke of Nagyeres was taken prisoner and that the Turkes were determined to burne the Citie of Palamons and then to fier the house which he strongly had forced against them he thought it better to render him selfe than to be cause of the losse of so many good souldiors as were in his bande and also by putting himselfe to raūsome he hoped in time to come to sée Florinda Thē he submitted himself to a Turke called Derlyn the gouernor of the king of Thunis who conueyed him home to his maister where he was well enterteigned and better kept For they thought that hauing him in their handes they had gotten the onely Achilles of Spaine In this sorte Amadour continued almost the space of two yeares in the seruice of the king of Thunis Newes came into Spaine of this ouerthrow wherof the friends of the Duke of Nagyeres were very sorrowfull But they that loued the honor of their countrie thought Amadour to be the greatest losse The brute whereof was noysed in the house of the Countesse of Arande where at that tyme the pore Gentlewoman Auenturade lay very sore sicke The Countesse suspecting very muche the affection that Amadour bare vnto her daughter which he suffered and dissembled for his vertues sake called her daughter aside and tolde her the pitious newes Florinda which could well dissemble sayde vnto her that it was a great losse for all their house but specially she pitied the state of his pore wife bicause at that time she was so sore sick But seing her mother wepe so bitterly she let fall some teares to kepe her companie least through to much dissimulation her loue might be discouered After that time the Countesse spake to her many tymes but she could neuer perceyue by her countenaunce any cause of certayne suspicion I will leaue to speake of the voyages the prayers the supplications and fastings whiche Florinda did ordinarily make for the safegard and prosperitie of Amadour who incontinently so sone as he was arriued at Thunis sente newes to his friendes and by a sure messanger aduertized Madame Florinda that he was in good health and hope to retourne Which newes was to the pore Lady the only meanes to releue and ease her sorrow And doubte ye not but the meanes of writing was vtterly debarred from Amadour whereof Florinda acquited her self so dilygently that by her letters and epistles he receyued gret consolation comfort The Countesse of Arande receyued cōmaundement from the King to repaire to Sarragosa where he that tyme was arriued And there she founde the yong Duke of Cardonne making sute to the King and Quéene for mariage of her daughter The Countesse vnwilling to disobey the king agréed thinking that her daughter being very yong had none other affection but that she had When the accord was concluded she sayde vnto her daughter that she had chosen her that match which she thought best worthy to ioyne with her person Her daughter séeing that in a thing already done it was to late to take counsell sayde vnto her that God was to be praysed in all things And séeing her mother so farre alienated from her intent she thought it better to shew her selfe obedient than to take pitie vpon her selfe And to comforte her in that sorow she vnderstode that the Infant Fortune was at the point of death But before her mother or any other person she shewed not so much as one signe or token thereof strayning her selfe so muche that the teares by force retiring to her heart did cause the bloud to issue forth at her nose in such abundance that her lyfe was in present daunger And to recouer her of that dysease she was maried vnto him for whose sake she had rather haue chaunged her lyfe for presente death After the mariage Florinda wente with her husbande into the Duchie of Cardonne and with her Auenturade to whome she secretly made her complaint aswell of her mothers rigor as also of the sorrowe she conceyued for the losse of the sonne of the Infant Fortune But of her griefe for Amadour she spake neuer a worde but by waye of comforting her This yong Lady then determined to haue God and respect of honor before her eyes and so well to dissemble her griefes that none should at any tyme perceyue that she misliked her husbande In this sorte Florinda passed a long tyme liuing a lyfe no lesse pleasant than death The report whereof she sent to her good seruant Amadour who vnderstanding her great loue and well disposed heart and the loue she bare to the Infant Fortune thought that it was impossible she could liue long lamented her state more than his owne This griefe augmented his paine of imprisonment wishing to haue remained a slaue all the dayes of his lyfe so that Florinda had had a
no more affection to Amadour and thought assuredly that she was voyd of reason bicause she hated all those thinges which she loued And from that tyme forth there was suche warre betwéene the mother and the daughter that the mother for the space of .vij. yeares woulde not speake vnto her except it were in anger Which she did at the requeste of Amadour During which tyme Florinda conuerted the feare that she had to remayne with her husbande into mere loue to anoyde the rigor and checkes of her mother Howebeit seing that nothing coulde preuayle she purposed to begyle Amadour leauing for a day or two her ser straūge countenaunce she counselled Amadour to loue a woman which as she sayde did commonly talke of their loue This Lady dwelt with the Quéene of Spaine was called Lorette who was very ioyful and glad to get suche a seruaunt And Florinda found meanes to cause a brute of this newe loue to be spred in euery place and specially the Countesse of Arande being at the Court perceyued the same who afterwardes was not so displeased with Florinda as she was wont to be Florinda vpon a tyme heard tel that the Captaine the husband of Loret began to be ialous ouer his wife and determined by some meanes or other he cared not how to kill Amadour Florinda notwithstanding her dissembling countenaunce could not suffer any hurt to be done to Amadour and therefore incontinently gaue him aduertisement therof But he retourning againe to his former sollyes answered that if it would please her to interteigne him euery day thrée houres he would neuer speake agayne to Loret whervnto by no meanes she would consent Then Amadour sayde vnto her if you will not haue me to liue wherefore goe ye about to defend me from death except ye purpose to torment me alyue in such wise that a thousand deathes can not doe But for so much as death doth fly from me I wil neuer leaue to seke death til I haue founde him out at whose approch onely I shall haue rest Whilest they were in these tearmes newes came that the King of Granado was about to enter into great warres against the King of Spaine in such wise that the King sent against him the Prince his sonne and with him the Constable of Castille and the Duke of Albe two auncient and sage Lords The Duke of Cardonne and the Counte of Arande not willing to tarrie behinde besought the King to giue eyther of them a charge Which he did according to the dignitie of their houses appointing Amadour to be their guid Who during that warre did suche valiaunt factes that they semed rather to be desperately than hardyly enterprised And to come to the effect of this discourse his great valiaunce was tryed euen to the death For the Moores making a bragge as though they woulde giue battayle when they sawe the army of the Chistians counterfaited a retire whome the Spaniardes pursued but the olde Constable and the Duke of Albe doubting their policie stode still against the wil of the Prince of Spaine not suffering him to passe ouer the riuer but the Counte of Arande and the Duke of Cardonne although they were countremanded did followe the chase and when the Moores sawe that they were pursued with so small a number they retourned and at one recountrie killed the Duke of Cardōne and the Counte of Arande was so sore hurt that he was left for deade in the place Amadour arriuing vpon this ouerthrowe inuaded the battayle of the Moores with suche rage and furie that he rescued the two bodyes of the Duke and Countie and caused them to be conueyed to the Princes campe who so lamented their chaūce as if they had bene his owne brethren But in searching their wounds the Countie of Arande was found to be aliue and was sent home to his owne house in a horslitter wher of long time he was sick and lykewise was conueyed to Cardonne the deade body of the yong Duke Amadour in rescuing those two bodyes toke so little héede to him selfe that he was inclosed with a great number of the Moores bicause he would be no more taken aswell to verifie his faith towardes God as also his vowe made to his Lady and also considering that if he were prisoner to the King of Granado eyther he shoulde cruelly be put to death or else forced to renounce his fayth he determined not to make his death or taking glorious to his enemies Wherefore kissing the crosse of his sworde and rendring his body and soule to the handes of almightie God he stabbed himselfe into the body with such a blow that there neded no second wound to rid him of his lyfe In this sorte dyed pore Amadour so much lamēted as his vertues did deserue The newes hereof was bruted throughout Spaine and Florinda which then was at Barsalone where her husbande in his lyfe tyme ordeyned the place of his buriall after that she had done his honorable obsequies without making her owne mother or mother in lawe priuie thervnto surrendred herselfe into the Monasterie of Iesus there to liue a religious lyfe receyuing him for her husband and friend which had deliuered her from the vehement loue of Amadour from a displeasaunt lyfe so great and vnquiet as was the company of her husbande In this wise she conuerted all her affections to loue God so perfectly that after she had long time lyued a religious life she yelded vp her soule in suche ioy as the Bridgrome doth when he goeth to visite his spouse A Duke of Florence The incontinencie of a Duke and of his impudencie to attayne hys purpose with the iust punishement which he receyued for the same ¶ The Liiij Nouell IN the Citie of Florence there was a Duke that maryed the Ladye Margaret the bastarde daughter of the Emperour Charles the fift And bicause she was very yong it was not lawfull for him to lye with her but tarying til she was of better yeres he vsed her very gently Who to spare his wyfe was amorous of certayne other Gentlewomen of the citie Amongs whome he was in loue with a very fayre wise and honest Gentlewoman that was sister to a Gentleman whome the Duke loued so well as himselfe to whome he gaue so much aucthoritie in his house that his worde was so well obeyed and feared as the Dukes himselfe and there was no secrete thing in the Dukes minde but he declared the same vnto him that he might full well haue bene called a seconde himselfe The Duke seing his sister to be a woman of so great honestie had no wayes or meanes to vtter vnto her the loue that he bare her after he had inuented all occasions possible at length he came to this Gentleman which he loued so well and sayde vnto him My friende if there were any thing in all the worlde wherein I were able to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you and woulde not doe it at your request I shoulde be
by any Prince Monarche to serue in his warres and exploites manhode and valiance is to bée desired and wished euē so in the same a politique minde to forecast preuente aswell the saustie and good gouernement of his owne charge as the anoiauuce of the enemie is to bee desired Cicero in his oracion Prolege Manilia affirmeth fower thynges méete to be in a Generall or Lieutenaunte That is to saie Scientia rei militaris virtus authoritas foelicitas Knowledge of warfare Manhode Aucthoritie and good Fortune Kuowledge and experience in choice of his souldiors in trainyng the ignoraunte in lodgyng the campe in politique order how to dispose the scoutes and watche in making the approche and defence of the armie lodged with other necessarie orders incident to the same In manhode boldlie to aduenture warely to retire paciently to suffer misfortune hardlie to lie sparely to sare stoutlie to abide stormes and colde weather In aucthoritie wisely to gouerne gentlie to speake iustly to threaten deseruedlie to punishe mercifullie to forgiue liberallie to deuide and louingly to be obeied And in felicitie and good successe To honor God To be faithfull to the Prince to preuente the enemie not to triumph before the victorie To be constaunt in frowarde fortune and coragious in extremitie Al which and many other are verie meete and requisite in hym that shal be put in trust by his soueraine Lorde or Ladie to aduenture the painful charge of a Deputie Generall Lieutenaunt or Capitaine Whereof or in the chiefest of the same this noble gentleman Sertorius a capitaine of the Romane Citie in tyme of Marius and Sylla when the citie of Rome were at ciuile discensiō had greate skill and knowledge For besides his experience in the warres as Plutarche sateth in his life he was verie abstinent from pleasures and continente in other disorders arare thynge in menne of his callyng But bicause I purpose not to staie in the full discourse of his vertues and qualities I meane but to touche in this Nouell so muche as Aulus Gellius in whom I am now cōuersant doeth of hym make remembrance Referring the studious reader desirous to knowe the state of his life doinges to the plentifull recorders of suche memorable and worthie personages Plutarche de vitis illustrium and Appianus de ciuili Romanorū bello Whiche beyng Greke aucthours be verie eloquentlie translated into the Latine the one by Gulielmus Xilander 1561. and thother by Sigismundus Gelenius 1554. This Sertorius was of a pregnaunte witte and therewithall a noble capitaine verie skilfull in the vse and gouernmente of an armie In distresse and harde aduentures he practised for pollicie to make lies to his souldiours to proue if thei could preuaile He vsed coūterfaicte letters to imagine dreames and to conferre false religions to trie if those thynges could serue his tourne in comfortyng and incouraging his souldiors Emonges all the factes of Sertorius this in suyng was very notable and famous A white Stagge of exceding beautie and liuelie swiftnesse was giuen vnto hym by a Lusitanian He perswaded euery man that the same was deliuered vnto hym by the Goddes and howe the Goddesse Diana had inspired that beaste to admonishe and teache what was meete and profitable And when he went aboute to cause his souldiours to aduenture any harde and difficile exploit he affirmed that the Stagge had giuen hym warnyng thereof whiche thei vniuersallie beleued and willinglie obeied as though the same had been sent downe frō the goddes in deede The same Stagge vpon a tyme whē newes came that thene mie had made incursion into his campe amased with the haste and turmoile ranne awaie and hid hym self in a Marishe harde adioynyng Afterwardes beyng sought for he was supposed to bee deade Within fewe daies after tidynges was brought to Sertorius that the Stagge was found The messenger was commaunded by hym to holde his peace and threatened to be punished if he did disclose it The next daie the same messenger was appoincted sodainlie to brynge the Stagge into the place where he and his frendes did cōsulte together When thei were assembled he tolde thē how the daie after that he had lost his Stagge he dreamed that he was come againe and according to his custome tolde hym what was nedefull to be doen. Then Sertorius makyng a signe to haue the order fulfiilled whiche he had giuen the daie before by by the stagge brake into the Chaumber Wherewithall a greate shoute was made and an admiracion raised of that chaunce Whiche credulitie of the barbarous cositries serued Sertorius turne in his weightie affaires A worthie matter also is to bee remembred of hym that no souldiour that euer serued hym of those vnciuile countrees that tooke his parte did ueuer reuolte or forsake him although those kinde of people be moste inconstāt Of the bookes of Sybilla ¶ The .xxv. Nouell IN auncient Chronicles these thinges appere in memorie touchyng the bokes of Sybilla A strange and vnknowen old woman repaired to the Romane kyng Tarquinius Superbus bearyng in her armes nine bookes whiche she said were deuine Oracles and offred them to bee solde Tarquinius demaunded the price The woman asked a wonderfull some The kyng makyng semblaunce as though the olde woman toted began to laughe Then she got fire in a chasing dishe aud burned three bookes of the nine She asked the kyng againe if he would haue the sixe for that price whereat the kyng laughed in more ample sort saiyng that the olde woman no doubt did date in deede By and by the burned other thre humblie demasidyng the kyng the like question if he would buye the reste for that price Wherevpō the kyng more earnestlie gaue heede to her request thinkyng the constant demaundes of the woman not to be in vaine brought the three bookes that remained for no lesse price then was required for the whole Therewithall the woman departed from Tarquinius and was neuer seen after These bokes wer kept in the capitole at Rome whervnto the Romanes resorted whē thei purposed to aske counsalle of the Goddes A good example for wisemen to beware how thei despise or neglecte auncient bokes and monnmentes Many the like in this realme haue been defaced founde in Religious houses whiche no doubt would haue conduced greate vtilitie and profite bothe to the common wealth and countrie if thei had been reserued and kepte whiche bookes by the ignoraunte haue been torne and raised to the greate grief of those that be learned and of them that aspire to learnyng and vertue I difference and contronersie betwenes Master a scholer so subtill that the Iudges could not giue sentence ¶ The .xxvj. Nouell DIuers thynges bee writen whiche although thei seme of litle importaunce yet thei bée wittie and comfortable to recreate honest myndes and deserue to be had in remēbrance Emonges which Aulus Gellius who reporteth ten of the former Histories selected out of his booke De noctibus atticis remembreth this pretie contrauersie In Athenes
pitie mine own dere Antiochus dooeth deserue Who beyng constrained can none otherwise doe But to be silent in loue is a moste euident signe of a noble and rare vertue Dispose thy minde therefore to helpe my soonne For I assure thée that if thou dooe not loue the life of Antiochus Seleucus life muste needes bee hated of thee He can not bee hurte but I likewise must be hurted The wise Phisicion seyng that his aduise came to passe as he thought before and that Seleucus was so instant vpon hym for the healthe of his sonne the better to proue his minde and his intencion spake vnto hym in this wise It is a common saiyng my moste dradde soueraigne Lorde that a man when he is hole cā giue to hym that is sicke and weake verie good counsaile You perswade me to giue my welbeloued wife to another man and to forgo her whom I moste feruentlie doe loue and in lackyng her my life also must faile If you doe take from me my wife you take with her my life Doubtfull it is my lorde if Antiochus pour sonne were in loue with the Quene Stratonica your graces wife whether you would bée so liberall vnto hym of her as you would that I should bee of myne I would it were the pleasure of the Goddes sodainlie answered Seleucus that he were in loue with my best beloued Stratonica I sweare vnto thee by the reuerence that I haue alwaies borne to the honourable memorie of my father Antiochus and my graundfather Seleucus and I sweare by all the sacred Goddes that frelie and forthwith I would render my wife into his handes although she be the dearest beloued vnto me in suche wise as all the worlde should knowe what the duetie of a good and louyng father ought to bée to suche a sone as my intirely beloued Antiochus who if I bée not deceiued is moste worthie of all helpe and succour Alas this his greate vertue in concealing that notable passion as an earnest affection of loue is it not worthie to be consecrated to eternall memorie Is he not worthie of all helpe and comforte Dooeth he not deserue to be pitied and lamented of all the whole worlde Truly he is worsse then a cruell enemie naie he is rather more fierce and vnnaturall then a sauage beast that at suche moderate behauiour as my sonne vseth will not take compassion Many other woordes he spake manifestlie declaryng that he for the healthe of his soonne would not onelie sticke to bestowe his wife but also willinglie his life for his preseruacion Wherefore the Phisicion thought it not good any lōger to kepe secrete the thyng but tooke the king a side and saied vnto hym in this wise The healthe of your soonne my dere Lorde and soueraigne is not in my handes but the same resteth in you and in your wife Stratonica whom as I by certaine signes doe manifestlie knowe he ardētly doeth loue Your grace now doeth knowe from hencefor the what to doe if his life be dere vnto you And tellyng the kyng the maner of suche loue he ioyfully toke his leaue The kyng now doubted but of one thyng whiche was howe to perswade his sōne to take Stratonica to wife and how to exhorte his wife to take his sonne to husbande But it chaūced for diuerse causes that easelie inough he perswaded thē bothe And perchaunce Stratonica made a good exchaūge by takyng a yong man to forsake him that was old After Seleucus had made the accorde betwene his wife and his soonne he caused all his armie to assemble whiche was verie greate To whō he saed in this maner My dere and louyng souldious whiche sithe the death of Alexander the great haue with me achieued a thousande glorious enterprises I thincke it méete and conuenient that ye be partakers of that whiche I purpose to bryng to passe Ye do knowe that vnder myne Empire I haue .lxxij. kyngdomes that I beyng an old man am not able to attende so greate a charge wherfore louyng companions I purpose to deliuer and ridde you frō grief of idlenesse and my self frō trouble and toile reseruyng to me onelie so muche as lieth betwene the Sea and the riuer Euphrates All the rest of my dominions I giue to my soonne Antiochus vpon whom in mariage I haue bestowed my wife Stratonica whiche thing ought to contente you bicause my will and pleasure is suche And whē he had tolde them the loue sicknes of his sonne and the discrete deuise of the gentle Phisician in the presence of a his armie the mariage was celebrated betwene Stratonica Antiochus Afterwards he crouned thē bothe Kyng and Quene of Asia and with royall pompe and triumphe the desired mariage was consummate The armie hearyng and séeyng these thinges verie highlie cōmended the pietie of the father towardes his sonne Antiochus then continued with his welbeloued wife in ioye and quietnesse liuyng together in great felicitie This was not he that for matters of Aegipte did make warres with the Romanes But he that onelie inferred warres vpon the Galatians whiche out of Europa passed into Asia but of which countrie he chased them and ouercame thē Of this Antiochus came Seleucus whiche was father of Antiochus surnamed the greate that attēpted verie notable warres against the Romanes and not his greate graundfather that maried his mother in lawe Finallie this Seleucus of whom I recompte this historie by giuyng his wife to his sonne did accomplishe a miraculous acte and worthie in deede of sempiternall remēbraunce and greatlie to bee commended therefore who although he had achiued infinite victories ouer his enemies Yet there was none of them all so greate as the victorie of hym self and his passions For certainly Seleucus did vanquishe his owne appetites depriuyng hymself of his wife whom he loued and estemed aboue all thynges in the worlde Of the straūge beastlie nature of Timon of Athenes enemie to mankinde with his death buriall and Epitaphe ¶ The .xxviij. Nouell ALL the beastes of the worlde dooe applie themselfes to other beastes of their kinde Timon of Athenes onelie excepted of whose straūge nature Plutarche is astonied in the life of Marcus Antonius Plato and Aristophanes doe reporte his merueilous nature bicause he was a manne but by shape onelie in qualities he was the Capitall enemie of mankinde whiche he confessed francklie vtterlie to abhorre and hate He dwelte alone in a litle cabane in the fieldes not farre from Athenes separated from all neighbours and companie he neuer went to the citie or to any other habitable place excepte he were constrained He could not abide any mannes companie and conuersacion he was neuer seen to goe to any mannes house ne yet would suffer them to come to hym At the same tyme there was in Athenes an other of like qualitie called Apemantus of the verie same nature different from the naturall kinde of manne and lodged likewise in the middest of the fieldes On a daie thei twoo beyng alone together
at dinner Apemantus saied vnto hym O Timon what a pleasaunt feast is this and what a merie companie are wee beyng no more but thou and I. Naie quod Timon it would be a merie banquette in deede if there were none hers but my self Wherein he shewed howe like a beaste in deede he was For he could not abide any other manne beyng not able to suffer the companie of hym whiche was of like nature And if by chaunce he happened to go to Athenes it was onelie to speake to Alcibiades who then was an excellent Capitaine there whereat many did meruaile And therefore Apemantus demaunded of him why he spake to no man but to Alcibiades I speake to hym some tymes said Timon bicause I knowe that by his occasion the Atheniens shal receiue great hurte and trouble Whiche wordes many tymes he tolde to Alcibiades himself He had a garden adioynyng to his house in the fieldes wherein was a Figge tree wherevpon many desperate menne ordinarilie did hange themselfes In place whereof he purposed to sette vp a house and therefore was forced to cut it downe for whiche cause he went to Athenes and in the Markette place he called the people aboute hym saiyng that he had newes to tell them Whē the people vnderstoode that he was aboute to make a discourse vnto them whiche was wonte to speake to no manne thei merueiled and the citizens on euery parte of the citie ranne to heare hym to whom he saied that he purposed to cutte doune his Figge tree to builde a house vpon the place where it stoode Wherefore quod he if there bee any man emonges you all in this companie that is disposed to hange hymself let hym come betymes before it be cutte doune Hauyng thus bestowed his charitie emonges the people he retourned to his lodging where he liued a certain time after without alteraciō of nature And bicause that nature chasiged not in his life tyme he would not suffer that death should alter or varie the same For like as he liued a beastlie and chorlishe life euen so he required to haue his funerall dooen after that maner By his last will he ordeined hymself to bée interred vpon the sea shore that the waues and surges mighte beate and vexe his dead carcas Yea and that if it were possible his desire was to bee buried in the depth of the Sea causyng an Epitaphe to be made wherein was discribed the qualities of his brutishe life Plutarche also reporteth an other to bee made by Calimachus muche like to that whiche Timon made hymself whose owne soundeth to this effecte in Englishe verse My wretched caitife daies expired now and past My carren corps intered here A pluralitie of husbandes is fast in grounde In waltryng waues of swellyng Seas by surges cast My name if thou desire The Goddes thee doe confounde The mariage of a manne and woman he being the husbande of .xx. wiues and she the wife of xxii husbandes ¶ The .xxix. Nouell MEn commonlie doe reproue the honour of widowes bicause thei beeyng twise or thrise wedded doe marie againe And albeit by outwarde apparaunce thei whiche so blame them seeme to haue reason yet no manne ought to iudge the secrecie of the harte Mariage is holie and ought to be permitted and therefore by any meanes not to bee reproued Although it can not be denied but that the chast life is moste perfecte notwithstanding that perfection in nothyng dooeth diminishe the other The widowe mariyng againe doeth not offende God by mariage to the worlde she committeth the lest fault And bicause many old and auncient widowes in these daies maie not after three or fower mariages bee dismaied terrified from that state I will recite an historie auouched by S. Hierome in an Epistle Ad Gerontiam viduam de monogamia whom for his holinesse and vertue wee ought to beleue It is also pretelie set forthe by Pietro Messia de Seuiglia an excellent aucthour a gentleman of Spaine in the .xxxiiii. Chapiter of the firste parte of his woorke called La Selua di varie Lezzioni Sainct Hierome saieth that in the tyme of Pope Damasus he sawe and knewe in Rome one woman lawfully maried to .xxij. men and was the widowe of .xxii. husbandes There was also a manne whiche had had .xx. wiues and was then the widower of the .xx. Bothe whiche beyng free and of equall state and condicion thei made sute one to other and that either of them mighte proue whiche should bee the victor in buriyng eche other thei maried together whiche mariage was in greate admiracion emonges the Romanes Who mused whiche of them should die firste promisyng that at the funerall thei would beautifie the corps bothe with their presence also with tokens of victorie It chaunced sore againste her will I dare saie that the woman died firste At the celebracion of whose buriall all the Romane husbandes laied their heades together howe thei might exornate and garnishe the same Thei concluded to goe before the corps with Laurell garlandes vpon their beades singyng verses of praise for the obteinyng of suche a victorious conqueste Now where the women went I can not tell For I finde written that populus totius vrbis praecedebat feretrum where populus as I take it signifieth the whole route of mē and women And yet I thinke womens hartes would tell scorne to goe before Therefore I thinke thei came behinde like mourners bearyng braunches without leaues their beades in their handes praiyng for all christen soules But giuyng women leaue to mourne for suche an ouerthrowe I would wishe all my frendes that be widowes if in her conscience she can finde in her harte to folowe the noble Romane matrone and widowe called Annia who when her frendes and familiers exhorted her to marie againe bicause she was yonge and beautifull answered that she would not For quod she if it be my fortune to haue a good man as I had before I shall stil be afraied lest death should take hym awaie But if it bee my chaunce to matche with an ill manne how can I be able quietlie to beare that hauyng had so good a husbande before Declaryng thereby that beyng ones well matched greate héede ought to be taken how to chose the nexte least in making a hastie choise leasure for repētance do folow How Melchisedeche a Iewe by tellyng a pretie tale of three Rynges saued his life ¶ The .xxx. Nouell SAladine whose valiaunce was so greate that not onelie the same of a base man made hym Souldan of Babilone but also therby he wāne diuerse victories ouer the Saracene Rynges and Christianes hauyng through his manifolde warres and magnificent triumphes expended all his treasure and by reason of one accident which he had to doe lacking a greate some of money he knewe not where to haue the same so redie as he had occasion to imploy it Who called to remembraunce a riche Iewe called Melchisedech that lent out money for interest in
aduentures Who seyng hymself to begin to ware olde was desirous being yet in Ireland to knowe if he could what was become of his childrē Wherefore perceiuyng that he was wholy altred frō his wanted forme and féelyng hymself more lustie through the long excercise and labour whiche he had susteined in seruice then he was in the idle tyme of his youthe he departed from his maister verie poore and in ill apparell with whom he had continued in seruice a longe tyme and came into Englande to that place where he had left Perotto and founde him to be Marshall of the countrie and sawe that he was in healthe lustie and a comely personage whiche reioysed hym merueilously but he would not make hymself be knowen to hym till he had séen what was become of his doughter Gianetta wherefore takyng his iourney he rested in no place till he came to London And there secretly inquiryng of the ladie with whom he had left his doughter of her state he learned that his doughter was her soonnes wife whereof he tooke excedyng greate pleasure And from that tyme forthe he compted his aduersities past as nothing sith he had founde his children liuyng and in suche greate honor And desirous to sée her began like a poore manne to harbour hymself harde by her house wherevpon a certain daie beyng séen of Giachetto Lamyens for that was the name of the husbāde of Gianetta hauing pitie vpō him bicause he sawe hym poore and olde commaunded one of his seruauntes to haue hym into the house and to giue hym meate for Goddes sake whiche the seruaunt willingly did accomplish Gianetta had many children by Giachetto of whiche the eldest was but eight yeres olde and thei were the fairest and beste fauoured children in the worlde who when thei sawe the Erle eate meate thei all came aboute hym and began to make muche of hym as thoughe by natures instruction thei had knowen him to be their Grandfather And he knowyng his nephewes began to shewe them tokens of loue and kindnesse By reason whereof the children would not goe from hym although their gouernour did call them awaie Wherefore the mother knowing the same came out of a chamber vnto the place where the Erle was threatened to beare them if thei would not doe as their maister hadde them The children began to crie and saied that thei would tary by that good manne that loued them better then their maister did whereat the Ladie and the Erle began to laugh The Erle not as a father but like a poore man rose vp to dooe honour to his doughter bicause she was a noble woman Conceiuyng merueilous ioye in his minde to see her but she knewe hym not at all neither at that instant nor after bicause he was so wonderfully transformed and chaunged from that forme he was wonte to bée of Like one that was olde and graie hedded hauyng a bearde leane and weather beaten resemblyng rather a common persone then an Erle And the Ladie seyng that the children would not departe from him but still cried when thei were fetched awaie willed the maister to lette them alone The children remainyng in this sorte with the honest poore manne the father of Giacchetto came in the meane time and vnderstoode this of their maister Wherefore he that cared not for Gianetta saied Lette them alone with a mischief to kéepe companie with beggers of whō thei came For of the mothers side thei bée but verlettes children and therefore it is no meruaile though thei loue their companie The Erle hearing those wordes was verie sorowfull notwithstādyng holdyng doune his hedde he suffred that iniurie as well as he hadde doen many other Giacchetto which knewe the mirth and ioye that the children made to the poore man although he was offended with those woordes neuerthelesse made as muche of the poore Erle as he did before And when he sawe him to wepe he commaunded that if he honest poore man would dwell there to doe some seruice he should bee reteined Who answered that he would carie there with a good will but he said that he could doe nothyng els but kepe horsse wherevnto he was accustomed all the daies of his life To whom a horsse was appoincted to kéepe and daily whē he had dressed his horsse he gaue hymself to plaie with the children Whiles that Fortune thus dealt accordyng to the maner aboue saied with the Erle of Angiers and his children it chaunced that the Frenche kyng after many truces made with the Almaignes died and in his place was crouned his sonne whose wife she was that caused the Erle to bee banished When the last truce with the Almaignes was expired the warres beganne to growe more sharpe for whose aide the kyng of Englande sente vnto hym as to his newe kinsman a greate number of people vnder the gouernemente of Perotto his Marshall and of Giacchetto Lamyens soonne of his other Marshall with whom the poore Erle wente and not knowen of any man remained a greate while in the Campe as a seruaunt where notwithstandyng like a valiaunt man with his aduise and déedes he accomplished notable thinges more then he was required It chaunced that in the time of the warres the Frenche Quene was verie sore sicke and perceiuyng her self at the poincte of death repented her of all her synnes and was confessed deuoutly to the Archebishop of Roane who of all men was reputed an holie and vertuous manne and amōges all her other sinnes she tolde him of the great wrong doen by her to the erle of Angiers and was not onely contented to reueale the same to hym alone but also rehearsed the whole matter before many other personages of greate honour desiryng them that thei would woorke so with the kyng that if the Erle were yet liuyng or any of his children thei might bée restored to their state againe Not longe after the Quene departed and was honourablie buried Whiche confession reported to the Kyng after certaine sorowfull sighes for the iniuries dooen to the valiaunte man he made Proclamacion throughout all the Campe and in many other places that who so euer could bryng forthe the Erle of Angiers or any of his childrē should for euery of them receiue a greate rewarde bicause he was innocent of that matter for whiche he was exiled by the onely confession of the Quene and that he entended to exalte hym to his former estate and more higher then euer he was Whiche thing the Erle hearyng beyng in the habite of a seruaunte knowyng it to be true by and by he wēt to Giacchetto and praied hym to repaire to Perotto that thei might come together bicause he would manifest vnto them the thyng whiche the kyng sent to seeke for And when thei were all thrée assembled together in a chāber the Erle saied to Perotto that now he thought to lette hym vnderstande what he was saiyng these wordes Perotto Giacchetto whom thou séest here hath espoused thy sister and neuer had yet any
to vnderstād the trouth of his death as his father in Lawe his wife and other kinsmen I would in their presence if it please you to cause them to bee called hither declare that I knowe The magistrates amased to se so greate a lorde to cruelly slaine commited her to warde till after diner and commaūded that al the before named should be somoned to appere Who assembled in the pallace with suche a number of people as the Iudges could skante haue place Violenta in the presence of them all with out any rage or passion first of all recompsed vnto thē the chaste loue betwene Didaco and her which he cōtinued the space of fowertene or fiftene monethes without receiuyng any fruicte or comoditie thereof Within a while after he being vanguished with leue maried her secretly at her house and solempnized the neptialles by a Prieste vnknowen declaryng moreouer how thei hadde liued a yere together in housholde without any occasion of offence on her part giuen vnto hym Then she rehersed before them his second mariage with the doughter of suche a manne being there presente addying for conclusion that sithe he hadde made her to lose her honestie she had sought meanes to make hym to lose his life Whiche she executed with the helpe of Ianique her maide who by her aduise beyng lothe to liue any longer had drouned her self And after she had declared the true state of the matter passed betwene them she saied for conclusion that all that she had rehersed was not to incite or moue thē to pitie or compassion thereby to prolonge her life wherof she iudged her self vnworthie for if you qoud she doe suffer me to escape your handes thinkyng to saue my bodie you shal be the cause and whole ruine of my soule for with these myne owne handes whiche you see before you I will desperately cutte of the threde of my life And with those woordes she helde her peace whereat the people amased and moued with pitie let fall the luke warme teares from their dolorouse eyes and lamented the misfortune of that poore creature imputyng the faulte vpon the dedde knighte whiche vnder colour of mariage had deceiued her The magistrates determinyng further to deliberate vppon the whole matter caused the dedde bodie to be buried and committed Violenta againe to Warde taking awaie from her kniues and other weapons wherewith thei thought she might hurte her self And vsed suche diligent searche and inquirie that the Prieste whiche maried them was founde oat and the seruaunt of Didaco that was presente at the mariage of Violenta beyng examined deposed how by his maisters commaūdement he caried his horsse into the countrie and how he commaunded him to come to hym againe the next mornyng to the house of Violenta And all thynges were so well throught to light as nothyng wanted for further inuestigacion of the truth but onely the confession of hym that was dedde And Violenta by the common opinion of the Iudges was condepned to bée behedded not onely for that she had presumed to punishe the knightes tromperie and offence but for her excessiue crueltie doen vpon the dedde bodie Thus infortunate Violenta ended her life her mother and brethren beyng acquited And was executed in the presence of the Duke of Calabria the soone of kyng Federic of Aragon whiche was that tyme the Viceroy there and afterwardes died at Torry in Fraunce who incontinently after caused this historie to be registred with other thinges worthie of remembraunce chaunced in his tyme at Valencia Bandell doeth write that the maide Ianique was put to death with her maistres but Paludanus a Spaniard a liue at that time writeth an excellent historie in Latine wherein he certainly declareth that she was neuer apprehended whiche opinion as moste probable I haue folowed Wantones and pleasaunt life being guides of insolencie doeth bring a miserable ende to a faier Ladie of Thurin whom a noble mā aduannced to high estate as appereth by this historie wherein he executeth greate crueltie vpon his said Ladie taken in adulterie ¶ The .xliij. Nouell THE auncient and generall custome of the gentlemen and gentlewomen of Piedmonte was daiely to abandon famous cities and murmures of common wealthes for to withdrawe themselfes to their Castles in the countrie and other places of pleasure of purpose to begile the troublesome turmoiles of life with greateste reste and contentacion whiche troubles and griefes thei dooe féele that intermedle with businesse of common wealthe whiche was with greate care obserued before the warres had preposterated the order of auncient gouernement that muche a doe you should haue had to finde a gentleman idle in a citie Who rather did resort to their countrie houses with their families whiche were so well gouerned and furnished that you should haue departed so well satisfied and instructed from a simple gentle mannes house as you should haue dooen from a greate Citie were it neuer so well ruled by some wife and prudent Senatour But sithens the worlde began to waxe olde it is come againe to very infancie in suche sorte that greatest nomber of Cities are not peopled in these daies but with a many of idle gentlemen that make their resiance and abode there not to profite but to continewe their delicate life and thei doe corrupte not onely themselfes but whiche is worste thei infecte them that keepe them companie whiche I will discourse somewhat more at large for so muche as the gentlewoman of whom I will describe the historie was brought vp all the tyme of her youthe in one of the finest and moste delicate Cities of Piedmonte And féelyng as yet some sparke of her former bringing vp she could not be reformed beyng in the countrie with her husbande but that in the ende she fill into greate reproche and shame as you shall vnderstande by the content of this historie In the tyme that Madame Margaret of Austriche doughter of Maximilian the Emperour went in progresse into Sauoie towardes her husbande there was a greate Lorde a valiaunte and curteous gentleman in a certaine Countrie of Piedmonte whose name I will not disclose aswell for the reuerence of hisneresse kinne which doe yet liue as for the immoderatee ruell punishemente that he deuised towardes his wife when he toke her in the faulte This greate Lorde although he had goodlie reuenues and Castelles in Piedmonte yet for the moste parte of his tyme he followed the Courte by commaundemente of the Duke that interteined hym nexte his owne persone vsyng commonly his aduise in al his greatest affaires This lorde at that time maried a maidē in Thurin of meane beautie for his pleasure not estemyng the place from whence she came And bicause he was well nere fiftie yeres of age when he married her she attired her self with suche modestie that she was more like a widowe then a maried woman and knewe so well howe to vse her husband the space of a yere or twoo that he thought hymself the happiest manne a
bloude She knowing the dolor and anguish that her husband endured comforted him very wisely with ioyful countenance saying How now deare husband think you that fortune is or ought to be still fauourable to Princes and great Lordes Do you not know that greate hulkes and shyppes doe souer perishe and drown in maine seas and riuers amiddes the raging waues and surges than in narrow flouds and brokes where the water is still and calme Doe you not sée greate trées whose toppes doe rise alofte aboue the highe hilles and stepe mountaines soner shaken and tossed with blustering windie blastes than those that be planted in fertile dales and lowe valleys Haue you forgotten so many histories by you perused and read with so great delight when you were in the Emperours court Doe not they describe the chaunge of Monarches the ruine of houses the destruction of one Realme acquited by the establishing and raygne of another What Prince Monarche or Captaine was euer so happie that hath not felt some griefe and misfortune Alas swéete heart thinke that God doth chastise vs with his roddes of tribulation to make vs to knowe him but in the meane tyme he kepeth for vs a better fortune that we loke not for Moreouer he neuer forsaketh them which with a good heart doe goe vnto him hauing their affiance in his great goodnesse and infinite mercy Alerane hearing the wise talke of his wife could not forbeare wéeping and sighing answered her in this maner Ah Lady in beauty and wisedome incōparable it is not my fortune that causeth my minde to wander and stray from the siege of constancie knowing well the qualities and number of Fortunes snares and howe ielous she is of humaine ioy and felicitie I am not ignorant that she layeth her ambushes and doth beset the endeuors soner of personages that be noble and of highe parentage than of those whose heartes be base and vnable and their victories not able to attayne to any iote of honour and fame But good God sayde he embracing his deare beloued spouse it is for you Maame that I endure tormente hauing made you to abandon the pompe of your estate and bereued from you a King to be your husbande causing you thus to féele an horrible and newe kinde of punnishment hunger famine I meane in the middes of these deserts and wilde places and therewithall haue ioyned you in company with an infortunate companiō who for comforte and solace ministreth teares and sighes O God most high and puissant howe profounde and darke are thy iudgements and how righteous is thy iustice I acknowledge mine offence to be the cause of thine anger and originall of our trespasse and that this payne chaunceth to vs for our sinnes which haue so wickedly betrayed the best Prince of the worlde and forsaken the company of him at whose bountifull handes I haue receyued better intertaynment and greater honor than I deserued Ah Emperor Otho that thou art so well reuenged nowe with cowardly fraude and deceipt committed against thée by Alerane of Saxone taking away her from thée which was the staffe future staye of thy reuerende age And as he was perseuering in this talke Adelasia seing him in that contemplation plucked him by the arme saying Sir it is time to consider our owne affaires we haue trauayled I cannot tell howe farre without rest me thinke our fortune being no better that we ought to remaine in some place attending for the grace and mercy of God who I hope will not fosake vs. They were then in Liguria in the deserts betwene Ast and Sauonne a coūtrey in the time wel peopled furnished with huge and darke forests garnished with many trées great high By the aduise then of Adelasia the Saxon Prince forced by necessity the maystresse of all artes retiered into those forestes where he practised the occupation of a Collier and some sayde that nature taught him the order how to cut his woodde to make ready his pittes and to knowe the season and time when his coales were burned ynough Great paines he susteyned about his businesse and went himselfe to sell his coales which he bare vpō his shoulders to the next market Townes till he had gayned so much as bought him an asse where with he dayly trauailed to vtter his coales and other deuises which néede had forced him to learne In this time Adelasia was deliuered of a goodly childe whome they named William And afterwardes by succession of time she bare vj. sonnes more For they dwelt almost .xviij. or .xx. yeares in that pore and miserable life and had dressed vp a little lodging within a caue that was faire and brode wherin very trimly and well they had bestowed themselues When the eldest of their sonnes was growen to the stature of a pretie stripling the father sent him sometime to Sauonne and sometime to Ast to sell their litle marchandise for reliefe of their houshold But the boy whose bloude coulde not conceale and hide the nobilitie of his birth hauing one day solde certaine burdens loades of woode and coale bought with that money a faire yong hauke which he caried vnto his father The good man gently rebuked his sonne and sayd that such game belonged not to men of their degrée and that they had much a doe to liue without employing their money vpon suche trifles Long time after William being arriued to the age of xvi yeares went to Sauonne to sell certaine ware by his fathers commaundement and with the money he bought a very sayre sworde which when his father fawe with teares in his eyes he went aside and sayde to himself Ah vnfortunate ladde that thy harde luck should do thée this great wrong truely neyther the pouertie of thy parents nor the place of thy bringing vp can deface in thée the secret shyning brightnesse of thine Auncestors vertue nor the prediction of thy corage and manhode in tune to come if God giue thée grace to aduaunce thée to the seruice of some noble prince Notwithstanding for that time he ceassed not sharply to rebuke and threaten his sonne in suche wise that the yong man hauing a heart greater than his force determined secretely to depart from his parents Now fortune chaunced so well and apt for his purpose that then at the very same time the Hongarians were entred Italy to spoile and rob the country against whom the Emperor marched with great expedition wyth an huge and goodly army of purpose to force them to leaue his land in peace William hauing knowledge hereof proceded towarde the Emperours campe where he shewed in déede great hope being of so small yeares of his future valiance and prowesse by the dedes of armes that he did during that warre Which ended and the enemy put to flight the Emperor went into Prouance to put in order his affaires in his realme of Arles which then was subiect to the Empire Afterwards he retired into Italy with deliberation to seiorne at Sauonne
prouide so well for your affaires that your honor being recouered your lyfe shall remayne assured Wherefore if you will followe myne aduise you shall write him an earnest letter as you knowe right wel howe to indite which Appian shall present on your behalfe For if you follow not this counsel I know none other as the worlde goeth now that will hazard his lyfe vnder the condicion of so straunge a lot as yours is specially hauing respect to the renowme and magnanimity of the Earle who as you know is in reputation to be one of the moste valiant men and most happy in armes that is in all Sauoie or Lombardie My deare friend quod the Duchesse doe what thou wilt For I am so resolued and confirmed in my sorrow that I haue no care eyther of death or lyfe no more than if I had neuer bene borne For neyther in the one nor in the other can I foresée any remedy for myne honor already lost Madame quod Emilia let vs for this time leaue the care of honor in the hands of God who knoweth both how to kepe it and restore it as shall seme good vnto him And let vs giue order for our parte that there be no want of diligence for feare of being ouertaken And hauing made an ende of her tale she gaue her yncke and paper saying vnto her Nowe Madame I shall sée at this pinch if your heart will serue you at a néede or no. The Duchesse withdrew her selfe a part and after she had long discoursed in her minde of that which was past betwene the knight and her she wrote vnto him as followeth My Lorde Mendozza I doe not write these letters vnto you vpon any hope to be deliuered by your meane from the poinaunt pricke of fierce death which dothe besiedge me knowing death alwayes to be the true porte sure refuge of all afflicted persons in my case For since that God willeth it nature permitteth it and my heauie Fortune consenteth to it I will receiue it with a right good wil knowing that the Graue is none other but a strong rampier and impregnable castle wherin we close our selues against the assaults of lyfe and the furious stormes of fortune It is farre better as appeareth manifestlye by me with eyes shut to waite in the Graue than longer to experiment lyfe the eyes being open liuing with so many troubles vpon earth But gladly would I bring to remembraunce and set before your eyes how sometyme I abandoned the place which was no lesse deare vnto me than mine owne country where I was borne and delicately nourished in honor and delightes to extende my selfe into an infinite number of perilles contrarie to the duetie of those that be of mine estate losing the name of a princesse to take the title of a caytise pilgrim for the onely feruent and vnmeasured loue which I bare you before I did euer sée you or by any meanes bound thervnto by any your proceding benefits The remembraunce whereof as I thinke ought nowe to deliuer suche an harde enterprise to the porte of your cōscience that breaking the vaile of your tender hart you should therefore take pitie and compassion of my straunge and cruell Fortune Which is not onely reduced to the mercy of a most dolorous prison and resteth in the power of a bloudie and mercilesse Tirant But which is worse in the continuall hazard of a shameful death Which I do not much lament hauing long desired to accelerate the same wyth mine owne handes to finde rest in an other world were it not that by death I should leaue an eternall blotte to my good name and a perpetuall heritage of infamie to my house and kindred Wherfore if it so be that frendship loketh for no reward and that she cānot be paid but by the tribute of another friendship make me now to tast the auncient fruite of my friendship And if pitie be the sole and onely key of Paradise display it nowe on the behalfe of her who forsaken of all humaine succor attendeth but the fatal houre to he throwen into the fier as a pore innocent lambe in sacrifice And for that the bearer shall make you vnderstande the rest by mouth whom it may please you to credite as mine owne selfe I wil make an ende of my heauie letter Beseching God to giue a good lyfe vnto you and to me an honorable death The letter closed and seated vp with the seale of the Duchesse she commaunded Emilia to deliuer it to Appian and to require him to vse diligence not ceassing to ryde day and night vntill he come to the place where they left the knight Mendozza giuing charge to make him vnderstande at length her innocencie and false accusation Appian being dispatched was so affected to please his maistresse and so desirous to sée her deliuered of her imprisonment that he ceassed not to trauaile day and night till he came within the Frontiers of Spaine And after that he had ridden yet two or thrée dayes iourney approching nere the place where he thought to fynde the Knight Mendozza he began to inquire of the host of the Inne where he lay that night aswell of his good health as of his other affaires who made him answere that it went euen so euill with him at that present as with the most porest gentleman of al Spaine Although that he were in dede a very great Lorde For qudo he with in these fewe monethes past his enemies of Tolledo whom he hath diuers tymes vanquished haue so well allied themselues together out of all partes of Spaine that they haue brought a great armie to the fielde And Fortune of the warre hath bene so fauorable vnto them that they discomfited Mendozza and all his armie Who hath retired himself with those fewe of his people that he could saue alyue into a little towne of his where yet to this present he is besiedged And so it is as euery man saith that he doth his endeuor meruellously well in such sort that his enemies can not enter the towne Maister Appian then demaunded of him if the towne besiedged were farre of And he answered that it was about .vij. or .viij. poastes Then without making any longer inquirie he toke a guide that accompained him euen almost to the campe And whē he sawe the towne a farre of he sent the guide backe agayne and went the same day to offer his seruice to a certayne Captaine of light horsemen who receyued him into wages and then he bought armour to serue the purpose And Master Appian besides his learning was a wise pollitike man and determined so sone as any skirmish did beginne to be formost and in dede he vsed the matter so wel that he suffred himself to be taken prisoner and to be caried into the towne And being within he desired those that had taken him to conduct him to the Lord of Mendozza their Chieftaine Who knew him by and by for that in the voyage which
Ladyes to imbrace Constancie as to imbolden thē in the refusal of dishonest sutes for which if they doe not acquire semblable honor as this Lady did yet they shall not be frustrate of the due rewarde incident to honor which is fame immortall praise Gentlemen may learne by the successe of this discourse what tormentes be in Loue what trauailes in pursute what passions lyke ague fittes what disconueniences what lost labour what playntes what griefes what vnnaturall attemptes be forced Many other notorious examples be contayned in the same to the great comforte and pleasure as I trust of the well aduised reader And althoughe the aucthor of the same perchaunce hath not rightly touched the propre names of the Aucthors of this tragedie by perfect appellations as Edward the thirde for his eldest sonne Edward the Prince of Wales who as I reade in Fabiā maried the Countesse of Salesburie which before was Countesse of Kent wife vnto sir Thomas Holand whose name as Polidore sayth was Iane daughter to Edmund Earle of Kent of whome the same Prince Edward begat Edward that dyed in his childish yeres Richard that afterwards was King of England the seconde of that name for that she was kinne to him was deuorced whose sayd father maried Phillip daughter to the Earle of Henault had by her .vij. sonnes And AElips for the name of the sayd Countesse being none such amongs our vulgare termes but Frosard remēbreth her name to be Alice which in dede is common amongs vs and the Castle of Salesberic where there is none by that name vpon the Frontiers of Scotland albeit the same Frosard doth make mention of a castle of the Earle of Salesburies giuen vnto him by Edward the thirde when he was Sir William Mountague and maried the sayde Lady Alice for his seruice and prowesse againste the Scottes and Rosamburghe for Roxboroughe and that the sayde Edward when he sawe that he could not by loue and other persuasions attayne the Countesse but by force maried the same Countesse which is altogether vntrue for that Polydore and other aucthors doe remember but one wyfe that he had which was the sayde vertuous Quéene Phillip with other like defaultes yet the grace of the Historie for al those errors is not diminished Wherof I thought good to giue this aduertisement And waying with my selfe that by the publishing hereof no dishonour can redound to the illustre race of our noble Kinges and Princes ne yet to the blemishing of the fame of that noble king eternized for his victories and vertues in the auncient annales Chronicles and monuments forren and domesticall bicause all natures children be thrall and subiect to the infirmities of their first parents I doe with submission humblie referre the same to the iudgement and correction of them to whome it shall appertaine Which being considered the Nouell doth begin in this forme and order THere was a King of Englande named Edward which had to his first wyfe the daughter of the Counte of Henault of whom he had children the eldest wherof was called also Edward the renowmed Prince of Wales who besides Poictiers subdued the french men toke Iohn the French King prisoner and sent him into England This Edward father of the Prince of Wales was not onely a capitall enemie of the French men but also had continuall warres with the Scottes his neighbours and seing himselfe so disquieted on euery side ordayned for his Lieutenant vpon the frontiers of Scotland one of his captaynes named William Lorde Montague To whome bicause he had fortified Roxboroughe and addressed manye enterprises agaynst the enemies he gaue the Earledome of Salesburie and married him honorablie with one of the fairest Ladies of England Certayne dayes after King Edwarde sent him into Flaundres in the companie of the Earle of Suffolke where Fortune was so contrarie that they were both taken prisoners by the French men and sent to the Louure at Paris The Scottes hearing tell of their discomfiture and howe the marches were destitute of a gouernour they spéedely sent thether an armie with intent to take the Countesse prisoner to raise her Castle to make bootie of the riches that was there But the Earle of Salesburie before his departure had giuen so good order that their successe was not suche as they hoped For they were so liuely repelled by them that were within that not able to indure their furie in steade of making their approches they were constrayned to goe further of And hauing intelligence by certayne spies that the King of Englande was departed from London with a great armie to come to succour the Countesse perceyuing that a farre of they were able to doe little good they were fame shortly to retire home agayne to their shame King Edward departed from London trauayling by great iourneyes with his armie towardes Salesberic was aduertized that the Scottes were discamped and fled agayne into Scotland Albeit they had so spoyled the Castle in many places that the markes there gaue sufficient witnesse what their intente and meaning was And althoughe the King had thought to retourne backe agayne vpon their retire yet being aduertized of the great battrie and of the hote assault that they had giuen to the Castle he went forth to visit the place The Countesse whose name was AElips vnderstanding of the kings comming causing al things to be in so good readinesse as the shortnesse of the time could serue furnished her selfe so wel as she could with a certaine numbre of Gentlewomen and souldiers that remained to issue forth to méete the King who besides her naturall beautie for the which she was recommended aboue al the Ladies of her prouince was enriched with the furniture of vertue and curtesie Which made her so incomparable that at one instant she rauished the heartes of al the Princes Lordes that did beheld her in such wise that there was no talke in all the armie but of her graces and vertue and speciallie of her excellent and surpassing beautie The king hauing made reuerence vnto her after he had wel viewed al her gestures and countenaunces thought that he had neuer séene a more goodlier creature Then rapt with an incredible admiration he sayde vnto her Madame Countesse I doe beleue that if in this attire and furniture wherein you now be accompanied with so rare and excellent beautie ye had bene placed vpon one of the rampiers of your Castle you had made more breaches with the lookes beames of your sparkling eyes in the harts of your enemies than they had bene able to haue done in your Castle with their thundering Ordinaunce The Countesse somewhat shamefast and abashed to heare her selfe so greatly praysed of a Prince so great began to blushe and taint with roseall colour the whitenesse of her alablaster face Then lyfting vp her bashefull eyes somewhat towards the king she sayd vnto him My soueraygne Lorde your grace may speake your pleasure But I am well assured that
say whether of them merited greatest honor eyther his grace his beauty or his excellente tong but that which brought him into best reputation was his great hardinesse whereof the common report and brute was nothing impeached or stayed for all his youth For in so many places he shewed his maruellous chiualcie that not onely Spaine but Fraunce and Italie did singularlie commend and set forth his vertue bicause in all the warres wherein he was presēt he neuer spared himself for any daūger And when his countrie was in peace and quiet he sought to serue in straunge places being loued and estemed both of his frends and enemies This Gentleman for the loue of his Captayne was come into that coūtrie where was arriued the Countesse of Arande and in beholding the beautie and good grace of her daughter which was not then past .xij. yeares of age he thought that she was the fayrest moste vertuous personage that euer be sawe and that if he coulde obtayne her good will he shoulde be so well satisfied as if he had gayned al the goods and pleasures of the world And after he had a good while viewed her for all the impossibilitie that reason could deuise to the contrary he determined to loue her although some occasion of that impossibilitie might rise through the greatnesse of the house whereof she came for want of age which was not able as yet to vnderstand the passiōs of loue But against the feare thereof he armed himselfe with good hope persuading with himselfe that time aud pacience woulde bring happy ende to his trauayle And from that time gentle Loue which without any other occasion than by his owne force was entred the hearte of Amadour promised him fauour helpe by all meanes possible to attayne the same And to prouide for the greatest difficultie which was the farre distance of the Countrie where he dwelt and the small occasion that he had thereby any more to sée Florinda he thought to marrie against his determinatiō made with the Ladies of Barlelone and Parpignon amongs whom he was so conuersant by reason of the warres that he séemed rather to be a Cathelan thā a Castillan although he were borne by Tolledo of a riche and honourable house but bicause he was a yonger brother he inioyed no great patrimonie or reuenue Not withstanding Loue and Fortune séeing him forsaken of his parents determined to accomplishe some notable exployte in him gaue him by meanes of his vertue that which the lawes of his coūtry refused to giue He had good experience in factes of warre and was so wel beloued of all Princes and Rulers that he refused many times their goodes as a man that wayed not the same The Countesse of whome I spake arriued thus at Sarragossa was very well interteigned of the king and of his whole Court The Gouernor of Cathalogne many times came thither to visite her whō Amadour neuer fayled to accōpany for the only pleasure he had to talk with Florinda And to make himselfe to be knowen in that company he went to Auenturade which was the daughter of an old Knight that dwelt hard by the house which from her youth was brought vp with Florinda in such familiar sorte that she knew all the secrets of her hart Amadour aswel for the honesty that he found in her as for the liuing of thrée thousand Ducats by the yere which she shoulde haue to her mariage determined to giue her such interteignemēt as one that was disposed to marry her Whervnto the Gentlewoman did willingly recline her eare And bicause that he was pore and the father of the damosel rich she thought that her father would neuer accorde to the mariage excepte it were by meanes of the Countesse of Arande Wherevpon she went to Madame Florinda and sayde vnto her Madame you sée this Castillan Gentleman which so oftentimes talketh with me I doe beleue that his pretence is to marry me You doe know what a father I haue who will neuer giue his consent if he be not persuaded therevnto by my Lady your mother you Florinda which loued the damosell as her selfe assured her that she would take vpon her to bring that matter to passe with so earneste trauayle as if the case were her owne Then Auenturade brought Amadour before Florinda who after he had saluted her was lyke to fall in a sowne for ioy and although he were compted the moste eloquent person of Spaine yet was he now become mute and dumb before Florinda wherat she maruelled much For albeit she was but. xv yeares of age yet she vnderstode that there was no man in Spaine that had a better tongue or a more conuenable grace than he And seing that he sayde nothing vnto her she spake vnto him in this wise The same which is bruted of you sir Amadour through out the whole countrie of Spaine is such that it maketh you knowen and estemed in this companie and giueth desire and occasion to those that know you to imploy themselues to doe you pleasure Wherefore if there be any thing wherin I may gratifie you vse me I beseche you Amadour that gased vpō the beautie of that Lady was rapt and surprised not wel able to render thankes vnto her And although Florinda maruelled to sée him without aunswere yet she imputed the same rather to bashfulnesse than to any force of loue and departed without any further talke Amadour knowing the vertue which in so tender yeares began to appeare in Florinda sayde vnto her whom he purposed to marry Doe not maruell though my talke doe fayle before Madame Florinda for the vertues and wise wordes hidden in that yong personage did so amase me that I wist not what to say But I pray you Auenturade quod he which knoweth all her secretes to tell me if it be otherwise possible but that she hath the heart of all the Lordes and Gentlemen of the Court for they which knowe her and doe not loue her be stones or beasts Auenturade which then loued Amadour more than all the men in the world and would conceale nothing from him sayde vnto him that Madame Florinda was beloued of the whole world but for the custome of the coūtrie few men did speake vnto her And quod she as yet I sée none that make any semblance vnto her but two yong Princes of Spaine which desired to marry her whereof the one is the sonne of the Infant Fortune and the other of the Duke of Cadouce I pray you thē quod Amadour to tel me which of them as you thinke doth loue her best She is so wise sayd Auenturade that she will confesse or graūt her loue to none but to suche as her mother pleaseth But so far as we can iudge she fauoreth much better the sonne of the Infant Fortune thā the Duke of Cadouce And for that I take you to be a man of good iudgemente this day you shall haue occasion to iudge the truth For the
the sparkes which flewe out of his eyes And to the intent that through long frequentation none might espie the same he interteigned a very fayre Lady called Paulina a woman in his time accompted so faire that few men which beheld her could escape her bonds This Lady Paulina vnderstanding how Amadour vsed his loue at Barselone Parpignon how he was beloued of the fayrest honest Ladyes of the coūtrie aboue all of the Countesse of Pallamons which in beautie was prised to be the fayrest in all Spaine of many other sayde vnto him That she had great pitie of him for that after so many good fortunes he had maried a wife so foule and deformed Amadour vnderstanding well by those wordes that she had desire to remedy her owne necessitie vsed the best maner that he coulde deuise thinking that in making her beleue a lie he should hyde from her the truth But the subtile and wel experimented in loue contented not her selfe with talke but perceyuing right well that his hearte was not satisfied with her loue doubted that he coulde not serue his Lady in secrete wise therefore marked him so nere that dayly she had a respect and watch vnto his eyes which he coulde so well dessemble that she was able to iudge nothing but by darke suspicion not without great payne and difficultie to the gentleman to whom Florinda ignorant of all their malice did resorte manye times in presence of Paulina whose demeaner then was so familiar that he with maruellous payne refrayned his lokes against his heart and desire And to auoide that no inconuenience should ensue one day speaking to Florinda as they were both leaning at a windowe sayde these wordes Madame I beseche you to tell me whether is it better to speake or to die Wherevnto Florinda answered readily saying I will still councell my friends to speake and not to die For there be fewe wordes spoken but that they may be amended but the life lost cannot be recouered Promise me then sayde Amadour that not onely ye will accept those words which I will saye but also not to be astonned or abashed till ye heare the ende of my tale To whom she answered Say what it please you for if you doe affraye me none other shall assure me Then he began to saye vnto her Madame I haue not yet bene desirous to disclose vnto you the greate affection which I beare you for two causes The one bicause I attende by my long seruice to shewe you the experience thereof The other for that I doubted you woulde thinke a great presumption in me which am but a poore gentleman to insinuate my selfe in place whereof I am not worthye And althoughe I were a prince as you be the loyalty yet of your heart wil not permit any other but him which hath already taken possession the sonne I meane of the Infant Fortune to vse any talke of loue with you But Madame like as necessity in time of great warre constrayneth men to make hauoke of their owne goodes and to consume the gréene corne that the enemy take no profit and reliefe therof euen so do I hazard to aduaunce the frute which in time I hope to gather that your enemies mine may inioye thereof none aduauntage Knowe ye Madame that from the time of your tender yeares I haue in such wise dedicated my selfe to your seruice that I ceasse not still to aspire the meanes to achieue your grace and fauour And for that occasion I did marry hir whō I thought you did loue best And knowing the loue you beare to the sonne of the Infant Fortune I haue indeuored my selfe to serue him as you haue sene And all wherein I thought you did delight I haue accomplished to the vttermoste of my power You doe sée that I haue gotten the good will of the Countesse your mother of the Earle you brother and of all those that doe beare you good will In such sort as in this house I am estemed not like a seruaunt but as a sonne And al the labour which I haue sustayned these fiue yeares past was for none other cause but to lyue all the dayes of my lyfe with you And vnderstande you well that I am none of those which by these meanes doe pretend to receyue of you any profite or pleasure other than that which is good and vertuous I doe knowe that I can neuer marry you and if I could I would not to withstand the loue that you beare vnto him whome I desire to be your husbande likewise to loue you in vicious sorte like them that hope to recompence their seruice with the dishonor of their Ladies I am so farre of from that affection that I had rather be dead than to sée you by desert worthy of lesse loue and that your vertue shoulde by any meanes be diminished for any pleasure that might happen vnto me I doe pretende and craue for the ende and recompence of my seruice but one thing Which is that you woulde continue my loyall and faithfull maystresse that you will neuer withdrawe from me your good grace and fauour and that you will maintayne me in that estate and degrée wherin I am Reposing your trust and fidelitie in me more than in any other making your selfe so assured of me that if for your honor or any cause touching your person you stand in néede of the lyfe of a Gentleman the same shall right willingly be employed in your seruice In like maner all things vertuous and honeste which euer I shall attempt I beseche you to thinke the same to be done onely for the loue of you And if I haue done for Ladyes of lesse reputation than you be any thing worthy of estimation be you assured that for suche a maystresse as you are my enterprises shall increase in suche sorte that the things which I found difficult and impossible shall be easelie for me to accomplishe But if you do not accept me to be wholly yours I determine to giue ouer armes and to renoūce valiance bicause it hath not succoured me in necessitie Wherefore Madame I humblie beseche you that my iust request may not be refused sith with your honour and conscience you cannot well denie the same The yong Lady hearing this vnaccustomed sute began to chāge her colour and to cast downe her eyes lyke an amased woman not withstanding as she that was wise and discrete sayde vnto him If Amadour your request vnto me be none other than it is wherefore haue you discoursed vnto me this long oration I am afrayde that vnder this honest pretence there lurketh some hidden malice to deceyue the ignoraunce of my youth in such wise that I am in great perplexitie how to make you aunswere for to refuse the honest amitie which you haue offered I shall doe contrarie to that I haue done hitherto which haue reposed in you more truste than in al the men of the world My conscience or mine honor can
saied that her doughter might not bothe sustaine paine in the birthe and also trouble to nourishe it her self I praie thee mother saied Phauorinus to suffer thy doughter to be the hole intire mother of her owne sonne What kind of half and vnperperfect mothers be thei whiche so sone as thei bee deliuered doe against nature by and by thrust the childe a waie from them Can thei nourishe with their owne bloode the thyng whiche thei see not and will thei not vouchsaufe to bestowe their Milke vpon that whiche is now a liuyng creature criyng out before their faces for the mothers help and duetie O thou vnkinde woman dooest thou thinke that Nature hath giuen thee twoo breastes for nothyng els but to beautifie and adorne thy body and not to giue sucke to thy children In like sorte many prodigious and monstruous women haue dried vp and extinguished that moste sacred foūtaine of the bodie the educatour of mākinde not without perill of their persones as though the same were a disgracyng of their beautie and comelinesse The like also some doe attempt by deuises and subtile secrecies to extrude their concepcions that the swellyng of their body might not irrugate and wrinckle their faces and that their painfull labours and greate burdeins dooe not make them looke olde in their youthly daies And like as it is generally to bee abborred that man in his first beginnynges when he is fashioned and inspired with life and in the handes of the cunnyng and wise woman daine Nature should be killed and slaine euē so with not muche lesse detestacion it is to be had cōpted when he is perfect and borne and the child of thine owne blood to be depriued from his due sustenaunce But it is no matter will some saie with whose Milke he bee nourced so he receiue Milke and liue The like maie be saied to that man whiche is so dull in perceiuyng the prouidence of Nature that what matter had it been in whose bodie and with whose blood he hymself had been formed and brought into light Hath not she whiche nowe respireth and with beautie waxeth white and fake the same bloodde now in her breastes which was before remainyng in her wōbe Is not the wisedome of Nature manifest in this thyng that after the cunnyng woorkeman the bloodde hath framed in the inwarde partes euery bodie of man straight waie when the tyme of birthe approcheth the same bloodde infudeth hymself into the vpper partes and is redie to nourishe the rudimentes of life and light offryng acquaintaunce familier sustinance to the newe borne Wherefore in vaine is not that reporte and belief that like as the force and Nature of the generacion séede is able to shape the similitudes of the minde bodie euen so the qualities and properties of the Milke doe auaile to like effecte Whiche thing is not onely marked in men but also in brute beastes For if Kiddes bee sockled vp with Ewes Milke and Lambes with Goates the Wolle of th one will growe more rough and hard and the heare of the other more tēder and soft In trées also and fruictes there is for the moste parte a greater force and power in the nature of the soile and Water where thes growe either for the pruning and planting then there is if straunge impes and séede be grifted and sowen there And many tymes you sée that a fruictfull trée caried and set in an other place decaseth through the nature of the grounde more barren What reason is this then to corrupte the noble Nature of this borne childe whose bodie and minde is well begonne with naturall beginnynges and to infecte the same with the degenerate foode of straunge Milke Specially if she to whom you shalt put forthe this childe to giue sucke be either a bonde and serulte woman and as commonlie it chaunceth of a forrein and barbarous nacion bee she wicked ill fauoured whorishe or dronken For diuers times without difference children be put forth to suche Nursses whose honestitie and condicions in the tyme of the puttyng for the be vtterly vnknowen Shall we suffer therefore this our infaunt to bée corrupted with pestiferous Milke Shall we abide a newe nature and spirit to be renued in his minde and bodie deriued frō that whiche is most vile and wicked Muche like to the same whiche many tymes we see and wonder how diuers children borne of chaste and honest women haue bodies and qualities farre discrepant from their honest parentes Wherefore verie trimlie and cunnynglie Maro folowyng Homeres verses doeth safe speakyng of the cruell nature of Achilles Sir Peleus that gentle kinght was not thy father sure Nor yet thy dame faire Thetis was whose grace the Goddes did lure The raging Sea and stonie rockes did bryng thee forthe to light Thy nature is so bloudie bent so fierce in cruell fight He did not herein reprehende the birthe of Achilles but the nature of the cruel sauage beast that brought hym vp for he added this of his owne And the Hircan Tigres did giue hym sucke And truely the condicion of the Noursse and nature of the Milke disposeth almoste the greater parte of the childes condicion whiche notwithstādyng the fathers séede and creacion of the bodie and mynde within the mothers wombe dooeth now in the begiunyng of his nouriture configurate and frame a newe dispositiō in him Moreouer who can saie the cōtrary but that suche women as putte their children from them deliueryng thē to be nourced of other doe cutte of naie rather doe wipe a waie and extinguishe that bande and increase of minde and affection that doeth consociate and ioyne in nature the parentes toward their children For whē the childe is put forthe to an other place and remoued from the mothers sighte the vigor and tendernesse of her affection is by litle ant litle forgotten and out of memorie the derest care of her tender babe groweth to vtter silence The sendyng awaie of the childe to an other Nourice is not muche inferiour to the forgetfulnesse that chaunceth when death doeth take it awaie Againe the affection the loue and familiaritie of the childe is prone to her that giueth it sucke And so as it is enidently seen in them that be put forthe the childe taketh no knowledge or desire of the owne mother that brought it forthe Therefore when the elementes and beginnynges of naturall pletie and loue bee ones abandoned and defaced how soeuer suche children in that sort brought vp shall seeme to loue the parentes yet for the moste parte it is no pure and naturall affection but rather a supposed and Ciuile loue Thus this noble Philosopher giueth counsaill to euery good mother not to be ashamed or grieued to bryng vp her childe with her owne Milke after her greatest paine past whom before with her owne bloudde she disdained not to féede in her bodie Of Sertorius a noble Romane capitaine ¶ The .xxiiij. Nouell LIke as in a good Capitaine chosen out